Arlo tells Cole that Jack slaughtered Novakovich and his men, but Chloe still thinks she can talk Jack down. Cole arrives at Ricker’s apartment. Ricker’s security system alerts him to Cole’s arrival and identity, and is waiting with his gun drawn as Cole shoots his way in. However, Cole tells Ricker that Jack will die today if Ricker doesn’t help.

I liked this scene because right at the start it started teasing Jack’s potential death.

At the UN, a field agent questions Chloe about Cole being put back on the duty roster. Chloe defends her choice. Cole calls and says that Jack’s targeting Russian President Suvarov; he’s the one who gave the order to kill Renee. Jack has a copy of it. Chloe says they’ll need it, as she doesn’t think Jack has Dana’s evidence any more — Meredith Reed has been arrested. Jack’s recording is the last proof of the cover up.

Cole thinks they should warn everybody that Jack’s going to assassinate Suvarov, but Chloe says that Pillar will get to him first and kill him. Instead, she orders Suvarov’s route changed to buy time.

President Logan calls President Taylor and finally tells her that Jack is seeking retribution and killed Novakovich. Logan also says that Suvarov was involved, which he assures her that Jack can’t possibly know about. As a regretful Taylor returns to preparations for the signing ceremony, Pillar gets into his car and calls Eden, who informs him that Jack was badly wounded during his assault on Novakovich. Pillar says they’ll find him, hangs up, then hears Jack whisper, “Try looking in the mirror.” Jack is in Pillar’s back seat. He holds a gun to Pillar’s head and orders him to drive to the UN.

This phone call between President Taylor and President Logan was pretty good.

It wasn’t a shocker to me to see Jack pop out of the backseat of Pillar’s car. Very predictable.

At the UN, Dalia privately presents Taylor with a fountain pen in a box that bears the inscription, “All religions, all this singing, one song, peace be with you.” It’s from Hassan; he had intended to present it to Taylor for signing the peace agreement. Taylor can barely speak, moved and torn up by guilt. As she leaves, Kayla approaches and tells her mother about Meredith Reed’s call, and that she said that Hassan’s killers were helped by the Russians. Meredith wouldn’t have called Dalia over a rumor. Dalia agrees to call her back.

I thought this scene was pretty good. When Taylor was given that pen I had a feeling it would be significant.

Cole arrives at the CTU mobile unit outside the UN, and Chloe tells him that if they get the recording from Jack, they’re going to release it to every media outlet in the world. The President won’t be able to suppress it. As Cole is put in charge of Suvarov’s security detail, Jack has Pillar park in the Hart Building across the street from the UN, which has already been emptied out by CTU’s security teams.

In the empty parking garage, Jack forces Pillar out of the car. Pillar realizes that Jack’s planning to shoot Suvarov while he’s making his statement, but he won’t be on the podium for another hour. Jack won’t make it that long, the way he’s bleeding. “That’s why you’re going to stitch me up,” says Jack, who forces Pillar to do so at gunpoint. As he operates, Pillar asks Jack why he’s doing this. In the past, Jack’s always had a reason for going outside the system. Jack says that everyone he’s killed today had a hand in Hassan’s death, and the peace agreement is an agreement between liars and murderers. Who made Jack judge and jury? President Taylor, answers Jack, when she covered up the truth.

Pillar finishes, and Jack tells him to turn around and get on his knees. Pillar realizes that Jack’s going to kill him. He begs for mercy, beginning to cry. He has a wife and children. This makes Jack hesitate. After a moment, he savagely pistol whips Pillar. Then Jack screams with rage and pain at what he’s become.

This Jack/Pillar scene will be one of the scenes that will most likely be forgotten, but has a lot of significance. It was very clever to see Jack force Pillar to stitch him up. But the best part of the scene is right after when Pillar is on his knees and Jack is about to execute him, but Pillar begs for mercy because he has a family. At that point you can see Jack get a twinkle in his eye, and then pistol whip Pillar. This was really the first sign in this episode that Jack might not continue on a rampage, or at least that he was going to re-consider.

Dalia cannot reach Meredith, so she goes to see President Taylor and tells her that she has heard that the Russians were involved in her husband’s murder, and she needs Taylor’s help to find Meredith to figure out if the allegations are true. Taylor says she’ll do the best she can in the time they have, but Dalia makes herself clear: until she is convinced the allegations are false, she will absolutely not sign the peace agreement. Taylor is forced to confess that she had Meredith arrested, and Dalia realizes that the allegations are indeed true…and that Taylor knew all along.

President Taylor says that this agreement is what Hassan worked so hard for, but Dalia rounds on her, enraged. “How dare you invoke my husband. He never would have stood for this!” She says she plans to demand Meredith’s release, and the disclosure of whatever evidence she’s hiding. However, Taylor says that Dalia will sign the peace agreement, because if she doesn’t, Taylor will order her administration to release evidence that IRK intelligence agents attempted to detonate a nuclear device in New York today. Taylor will use that as justification for all-out war on the IRK. Her country won’t recover for decades. Dalia is horrified, but she does not respond to the ultimatum. Without giving an answer, she leaves the President’s suite, slamming the door behind her.

This heated conversation between Dalia and President Taylor was top notch. Not only was the acting brilliant (Emmy worthy), but it was crazy to see President Taylor issue an ultimatum to sign a peace agreement with a threat of war!

Jack breaks into a utility room in the Hart Building with an overlook of the podium and begins assembling his rifle. Meanwhile, Dalia consults with Jamot, who doesn’t see a way out of the President’s threat. They will have to sign. An aide informs them that Suvarov is about to arrive.

Chloe tells Cole that Jack’s inside the perimeter. He nearly managed to avoid the security cameras, but his reflection was seen in a vending machine. Chloe insists on going alone to talk to him. If she doesn’t return in 20 minutes, then Cole should put out an alert.

Back in the utility room, Jack begins recording a final message addressed to his daughter, Kim. “As long as I can remember, every time I’ve had to talk to you, it seems that for one reason or another I’ve started out by telling you how sorry I am. I’m not gonna do that to you now. You’re going to hear a lot of stories about what I’ve done today. Some of them may even be true. But no one, and I mean no one, can tell you why I did what I did except for me. A lot of good people died today. Not just President Hassan. Officers from CTU, members of other law enforcement agencies… Renee Walker. Who I was very close to.”

The part with Jack recording the video was not only good because it was sentimental, but because it continued to tease Jack’s death. If you were on the fence about Jack possibly dying then this scene definitely changed your mind. I don’t see how it wouldn’t.

Suvarov arrives at the UN. Dalia is stone-faced as Suvarov says how much he admired her husband. They head upstairs to the press conference, where the UN Secretary General, with Taylor, Dalia and Suvarov behind him, talks of ushering in a new era of transparency, honesty and trust.

Cole asks Agent Burke to deploy a ten-man squad outside the Hart. Meanwhile, Chloe, uneasily wielding a gun given to her by Cole, finds the room where Jack is hiding. Jack gets the drop on her and asks who else knows where he is. Just Cole and Arlo, she says. She tells him there has to be another way, and that he’s going to be killed. There are standing orders to shoot him on sight. She couldn’t let that happen. Jack says she shouldn’t have come after him, but she says, “You’re my friend. I didn’t have a choice.” “Neither do I,” says a regretful Jack…then strangles Chloe until she passes out and cuffs her to some piping.

Jack then takes Pillar’s phone and calls Logan, saying that he has him in his sights in his office in the UN building. Jack plays a bit of the recording for him, to prove that he knows of Suvarov’s involvement in Renee’s death. He tells Logan to call Suvarov and have him meet him right there in that office as soon as the press conference is over. “What am I supposed to tell him?” asks Logan. “Try the truth, for a change. Tell him you’ve got credible intelligence about a threat to his life.” Jack’s mouth twitches into a brief smirk.

When Chloe found Jack there was a part of me that thought it would be the end of her, but when he spared Pillar’s life earlier it wouldn’t have made sense for Jack to kill Chloe and not kill Pillar. It was definitely something to see Jack choke out Chloe.

When Jack trained his sniper rifle right at President Logan and then called him that upped the suspense factor big time. Of course my only complaint about this scene is how Jack knew where to find President Logan. It doesn’t help the show that this is the 2nd time they’ve had this sniper loophole this season. When Jack told President Logan to call up President Suvarov it added even more suspense.

Episode 24:

At the UN press conference, President Suvarov announces that the peace agreement will be President Hassan’s living memorial. Dalia excuses herself, and Suvarov realizes that President Taylor told Dalia of his complicity in Hassan’s death. He wonders what Taylor has said to keep her from breaking off the peace talks.

Suvarov is interrupted by an urgent call from President Logan, who’s still in Jack’s sights. Logan tells Suvarov he has information about a leak in Suvarov’s camp, so they need to meet alone in his office.

Chloe wakes up, cuffed to the pipes, and tells Jack that they can use the audio file he recorded to expose the cover up. He doesn’t need to do this. Chloe’s phone rings. It’s Cole, and if she doesn’t answer, he’ll send in a TAC team. Jack doesn’t care. He’s going to finish what he started. Meanwhile, Cole sends the TAC team to the Hart Building, confirming their orders to shoot to kill Jack.

Jack can see Suvarov arrive at Logan’s office. Chloe says that Jack will provoke a war with a nuclear power if he kills Suvarov. Is that really what he wants? Would Renee have wanted it? Chloe’s words finally reach Jack. He hesitates, and finally puts the gun down. Jack agrees to do it her way, but makes Chloe promise to do exactly what he says.

When Chloe talked Jack out of shooting Suvarov I wasn’t entirely surprised because of Jack sparing Pillar earlier. This was a great scene in terms of showing Jack’s trust of Chloe. I have some problems with Renee’s death constantly being a used as a platform for Jack’s decisions which in my opinion contributes to the failure of Season 8. I’ll get to that in my full review of Season 8..

Logan, realizing that no gunshot will come, stammers an excuse to an annoyed Suvarov. Jack removes the data card with the recording from the recording device and hands it to Chloe, but she can’t get out of the building any more than he can. She only got to him first by bypassing CTU and Pillar. Logan will figure this out soon. The only way to get the audio file back to CTU is to convince Logan she’s not working with Jack. Jack uncuffs Chloe and orders her to shoot him. She can’t do it. Just as the CTU team is about to burst through the door, Jack shoots himself in the chest and goes down. Chloe tells them Jack drew his gun and she shot him. She stares at Jack’s prone body with concern as Agent Burke calls for a medical team.

One of the underrated scenes of this finale will be the one of President Logan bullshitting President Suvarov after Jack left him hanging. I thought it was pretty funny.

Now according to this episode recap it says Jack shot himself which is what I thought even though people keep saying Chloe shot Jack which wouldn’t be true. This scene was funny though watching Chloe’s insecurity about shooting Jack. This was a pretty classic Chloe scene.

Chloe catches Cole up on the plan, and she tries to get to CTU mobile command to upload the file. However, she is detained by Agent Burke, who says that Agent Pillar has been found and ordered her held for debriefing. Meanwhile, Pillar speaks to Logan, who orders him to recover the data card. If Logan goes down, so does Pillar; who knows how much Jack recorded?

As EMTs work on Jack, Pillar arrives. Burke shows Pillar the empty recording device, and Pillar insists on searching Chloe. He finds nothing. Pillar reluctantly releases Chloe, who was hiding the data card in her phone’s battery compartment. As Chloe heads for mobile command, Pillar begins to interrogate Jack. He remains silent. The EMT confirms that Jack is stable enough to be operated on at CTU because the bullet didn’t hit any organs or arteries. Pillar, newly suspicious, orders Chloe locked down. Jack whispers something, forcing Pillar to lean in close. Jack savagely bites off part of Pillar’s ear.

It looked a little odd with Pillar patting down Chloe in this season. One part of this scene that they did a good job of was showing Jack opening and closing his eyes.

At mobile command, Chloe, with Cole watching, has begun to upload the file to Arlo at CTU. However, Burke and a team of agents arrive to arrest them. They stop the upload before it’s completed and seize the data card. Chloe and Cole are taken into custody.

I thought this was a pretty good scene because we always see Chloe finishing uploading/downloading, but this time it didn’t finish for her.

Logan presents the data card to President Taylor, and tells her that Jack’s about to be transported to CTU under heavy guard. Jack will never, ever let this go, and no matter where they imprison him, he will always claw his way back. Yet Logan has a plan. Taylor, pained and sorrowful, stays silent, tacitly approving Logan’s idea to assassinate Jack. He leaves, and Taylor begins to view the contents of the data card. There is a message from Jack to his daughter Kim where he explains the real reason behind his actions: he believes that the peace accord won’t serve the greater good. “A lasting peace cannot simply be political. It has to be born out of trust and honesty and understanding…” This hits Taylor hard.

The writers made a big stretch here from having the data card with Chloe and now it’s in the hands of President Logan this fast? It was clearly visible that President Taylor was having second thoughts after watching this video. The other thing that will probably not get talked about as much is that they only show President Taylor watching Jack’s message, but not the recording of President Logan. Is it on the same card? I have my doubts. I think there may be 2 different cards. I’ll have to re-watch the tape to get a better second look at this, but I think this is very much up for debate.

Logan and Pillar retire to Logan’s office for a celebratory drink as President Taylor heads to the signing of the peace accord. After the Secretary General makes a speech about the agreement that has been negotiated in “good faith,” Suvarov is the first to sign. Dalia is next. She hesitates, but ultimately signs her name under his. President Taylor opens the box containing the pen given to her by Dalia on Hassan’s behalf. She rests the pen on the paper, but she cannot do it. Taylor slowly and deliberately sheaths the pen, and then turns and presses it into Dalia’s palm, saying she cannot accept it. Suvarov urges her to stop what she is about to do, but Taylor is resolute.

President Taylor returns to the podium and announces to the world that grave crimes have been committed in the run-up to this treaty. Taylor confesses to participating in a conspiracy to hide those crimes, and she will give a more complete statement within the hour. For now, she says, the peace process has come to an end. As Taylor leaves the ceremony, she urgently tells Tim Woods to alert CTU that Jack’s medical transport is about to be ambushed. Yet she’s too late. Logan’s men have already ambushed the transport and taken Jack captive.

I had a feeling this pen that Dalia gave President Taylor would come into play when the first shot they showed was the pen being placed on the podium. I predicted the peace deal would fall apart and I was right, but in fairness I thought before the episode aired it would be Dalia backing out instead. As soon as the pen came into play it became crystal clear (even after Jack’s video message) that it would most likely be President Taylor as the one backing out. As predictable as it was right before it unfolded I had no issues with it.

The next part where they show President Taylor panicking was excellent. When they showed Jack’s medical transport being ambushed, and Jack crawling out then people putting a bag over his head (great camera shot there) I thought that was the end of Jack.

As the Secretary General tells reporters to direct all questions to the White House, the phone rings in Logan’s office. Logan says not to answer because he knows it is Taylor calling about Jack, but Pillar says it’s all over. They shouldn’t add murder to their list of charges. As Pillar answers, Logan cold-cocks him with a paperweight. “This was my last chance,” says Logan, “And Bauer took it away.” Logan then shoots Pillar through the head. There is a knock; President Taylor, Tim Woods and a retinue of Secret Service agents are at the door. Logan, trapped, holds the gun up to his chin. From outside, Taylor and the others hear a gunshot. The agents break down the door, and Taylor desperately tells Tim that she needs Logan alive.

I really enjoyed this scene with Logan shooting Pillar and then blowing his own brains out. For a scene that was so violent it didn’t appear as graphic.

Paramedics work on Logan; they think he’ll survive, but with severe brain damage. How will they find Jack now? Tim Woods says that CTU’s drones can backtrack to the ambush and locate where Jack’s been taken. Taylor orders Chloe and Cole released and allowed to locate Jack. Tim’s already done so.

Chloe and Cole return to CTU, where Chloe has Eden arrested. Arlo and Chloe quickly find the van, which is pulling into an empty construction yard. Nantz, the leader of Logan’s men, pulls Jack from the van and forces him to his knees. He knows who Jack is and promises to make this quick and clean. Jack attempts to escape, but he’s too weak and is quickly overpowered. Jack says he’s ready, but just as Nantz is about to pull the trigger, he gets a phone call from President Taylor, ordering him to stand down. Taylor then asks to talk to Jack. As Nantz and his men fall back, Taylor, with Chloe, Cole and Arlo listening in, tells Jack that it’s over. She’ll be facing the consequences of her action…but he’ll have to do the same.

Sorrowfully, near tears, President Taylor explains to Jack that she wanted the peace treaty so badly that she was willing to betray every principle she ever stood for. She tells him to leave the country while he still has a chance. The Russians will be coming after him, and so will the U.S. government. They don’t have a choice. Before hanging up, President Taylor apologizes.

Jack calls Chloe and makes her promise to keep his family safe and prevent anyone from getting to him through his family. Jack thanks Chloe for all the help she’s given him over the years. He hangs up. Chloe, also about to cry, watches Jack on the giant viewscreen as he looks skyward into the satellite camera, seemingly right at her. Jack then begins to run, a fugitive once again.

This last sequence was awesome. When they pulled Jack out of the car and into the alley and put him down I had a feeling that he would probably survive. But when Jack fought back, got his ass kicked, and then got put down on his knees again I thought right then and there that Jack was finished.

The phone call between President Taylor and Jack was pretty good for how short it was. It was a little odd to see him talking to the President out in the open like that in that big phone they gave Jack.

Now ill be honest this last scene between Jack and Chloe was deep. I came VERY VERY close to tearing up, but I didn’t. Few things in 24 have moved me to the point that this scene did. The last thing that did was Edgar’s death. In any case I thought Jack looking up at the drone saying goodbye to Chloe {and 24 fans) was good. As contrived as it was it did make sense. And yes, you can physically see a drone in real-life so this wasn’t some made up bullshit for a pretty ending. To finish it off they had the countdown to zero which I thought was a nice touch.

Overall Thoughts:

I have to admit that this finale exceeded my expectations. It wasn’t perfect, but it was as good as I could possibly expect given the storyline. The fact that they teased Jack’s death the entire finale was the best element of the finale. Contrary to what others think, I do actually think they wrapped the series well with that final scene with Jack and Chloe. I hear a lot of people complaining that it didn’t feel like a series finale because they didn’t bring back old characters, but realistically with the show format you can’t really do that just for the sake of it being a finale. That “other show” that ended can get away with stuff like that because of its mysterious randomness, but the 24-hour format doesn’t really allow that.

I made a bunch of predictions, and none really came true except the peace deal falling through which is a good thing. The more I think about it the more I think Jack’s death would have enhanced the series finale. I guess the producers couldn’t take that next step, and saw dollar signs with potential movies. The problem I have with this particular ending with Jack just walking away is that it’s very similar to the way Season 4 ended. I would have preferred something a little more different and less ambiguous.

If I were to rank this season finale with the rest of the finales I would have to put this above Seasons 3, 4, 6, slightly above 7, on par with 2, but not as good as 1 or 5. Even though I don’t think this finale was better than 1, 2, or 5 you still have to take into consideration that this one was wrapping the series and I thought they did a job with that.

I’ll post my full Season 8 analysis at some point soon. Please check back later. I have a lot to say about how this season transpired.

Thanks for reading and don’t hesitate to comment or tweet me (@TrueProgressive) if you have something to say.

After eight seasons of 24 the show is going to come to end on Monday. For me this is bittersweet. I started watching 24 in 2001 and rarely if ever missed an episode. I revolved my schedule around 24 because to me, watching 24 is an experience that no other show can match. No disrespect to the DVD watchers, but watching it live with the commercial breaks is something that I always preferred because not only did the commercials count as passed time in the show, but they also drew out tension and drama. It would give you a few extra dramatic minutes to guess what’s going to happen next. Not only that aspect, but as most 24 watchers know it’s not fun being spoiled. I didn’t want to take that chance so live was my only option! So this Monday, May 24th 2010 all that is going to come to an end. At 10pm Eastern time there will be no more future episodes to guess what will happen next. Yes, I know a movie has been mentioned but it won’t be the same. Watching my 24 DVDs will be fun, but that suspense factor that 24 brought will essentially be dead because we know who all the moles are, we know who’s dying when, and we know every plot twist.

But as I mentioned above this is bittersweet. As much as I want to see 24 live on forever I don’t want to see the franchise get tarnished. Unfortunately, Season 8 has been mediocre at best and it’s clearly evident that the show is running out of ideas and can’t fool us that much anymore. I won’t get into the specifics until after the finale, but even with a mediocre season I still watched every episode this year with the same amount of focus that I did the previous seven seasons. I can sure as hell guaran-damn-tee you that on Monday ill be focused as ever on my couch with my Vitamin Water, chips, and whatever I think ill need to get me through those 2-hours! (And the phones will not be answered of course!)

The following list of things would be a good start to making me very satisfied if they happen on Monday:

Aaron Pierce (Secret Service Agent) – If Aaron Pierce appears in Season 8 he will be the only character besides Jack Bauer to appear in all seasons. Not only that, but he’s a very likable character.

Tony Almeida – I don’t understand the purpose of resurrecting Tony AND keeping him alive through Season 7 if they weren’t going to bring him back in Season 8. If Tony is a no show on Monday the 24 writers deserve to be ripped to shreds.

Kim Bauer– I know a lot of people don’t like her character, but let’s be honest that most (99%) of the scenes involving Kim and Jack were very good and added a lot to the story. A phone conversation would be alright for me.

Jack Bauer NOT committing suicide – I’ll get into this later, but if Jack Bauer does die I want it to be honorable. To me, Jack Bauer committing suicide would tarnish the franchise.

Of course there are more things that I would like to see, but if I were to narrow it down those four would be the most key in the context of wrapping up the show.

Now I am going to give you what I think will happen. I want to be clear that I have no inside information and these are just predictions and predictions only:

Jack kills President Logan and President Suvarov

Cole Ortiz gets killed

The Peace deal falls through

Jack kills Chloe – I think Chloe will try to stop Jack’s rampage, but Jack will stop at nothing and ends up killing her.

My last prediction is an either/or:

85% – Jack dies– I just think that it’s setting up for his death because Jack is simply out of control and has lost almost everything except his daughter Kim. If you watched most of the season they put many verbal clues from Jack that this would possibly be it for him. The close call where he got shot and Renee saved him was an indication he was losing it and also the botched operation to save Hassan was another indication that things were slowing down for Jack. I won’t predict how he will die, but I think he will die because he’s simply not the ‘Perfect Jack’ anymore. I want to make that distinction because I do think he will run through his enemies, but that the margin of error has clearly increased.

Most people say Jack will live because of the potential 24 movie, but I believe that’s a red herring. If you think about it they can still do both! They can kill Jack and make a movie that takes place between two seasons and have the ability to bring back old stars like Tony, Michelle, and President Palmer.

15% – Jack gets arrested/sent to prison – I think that if Jack stays alive he will finally get caught and have to pay the consequences for his actions.

Just so we’re clear, I’m 85% confident that Jack will die and 15% confident that Jack will live and be arrested/sent to prison.

I know most 24 fans don’t want to see Jack die, but I have no problem with it as long as it’s done correctly.

Well that’s the end of my 24 series finale preview. I’ll have the episodes reviews up next week and after that I will review Season 8 as a whole.

Logan watches the news, pleased, as the new press secretary announces his role in the peace process. An aide tells him that President Suvarov will be touching down at JFK within the next half-hour. Logan’s mood is undercut, however, when Pillar calls with news: Jack, in the company of reporter Meredith Reed, got away with the evidence, and Jack brutally murdered and eviscerated Pavel. Jack’s out for blood.

Similar to scene 1 of Episode 21, I also think they took a lot of liberties with the time format with all the swarming agents around Pavel’s body to start the episode.

In a back alley, Ricker tells Jack he’ll need to go back to his place to track the number Pavel dialed on his cell phone. As he leaves, Jack tells Meredith the truth about the conspiracy, and that since she was seen with him, she can’t go back to her home or office. He also throws away her cell phone. Meredith says she can trust her editor, Gary Klausner. Jack has her arrange to get the evidence to him on a pay phone. After that, she’s on her own.

This was a nice little scene between Jack and Meredith. It was nothing amazing, but a good scene itself.

Dalia is suspicious of President Logan’s involvement. She trusts President Taylor, but is still having Jamot try to find out exactly how Logan got the Russians back to the table.

Logan pulls President Taylor aside and tells her that Jack got away with the evidence. He exhorts her to call Klausner and have Meredith’s story killed, under the pretence of national security. Taylor curses him; he’s poison. She says the country survived his Presidency, but Logan points out that he inherited his office. She’s a popular President, one who is so trusted that she even had her own daughter arrested rather than see justice go unserved. He’s sure she’ll do what needs to be done.

This scene was very good. President Taylor(Jones) and President Logan(Itzin)0 seem to have good chemistry together.

At CTU, Arlo shows Chloe the feed from Pillar’s team. It is of Pavel’s battered body and the gun that killed Renee. Chloe is still going to try to talk Jack down before Pillar’s men kill him. Arlo has identified Jack’s associate as Jim Ricker, who served with Jack in the Gulf War. However, the records show that Ricker’s been dead for seven years. Chloe says they must find him so that they can find Jack.

The shot of Pavel’s dead body was crazy seeing all the guts on the ground. THAT is a shot I’m surprised they allowed on T.V.

Ricker has learned that he’s tracing Logan’s location and calls Jack, reluctantly giving up the information. He warns Jack that he’s crossing a line there’s no coming back from. “I wasn’t planning on coming back,” Jack says. Jack thanks Ricker for his help and tells him he doesn’t have to be a part of this anymore. He then steals an SUV.

When Jack said “I wasn’t planning on coming back”, that was a clear signal that Jack Bauer was a man on a mission who will not be stopped.

President Taylor, who has a headache, orders a reluctant Tim Woods to kill the story. Meanwhile, Meredith calls her editor Klausner with the basics. She arranges to meet him at a diner in fifteen minutes.

This was a pretty good scene with President Taylor and Tim Woods.

Meredith’s editor Klausner looks like a real journalistic for some reason. They picked the right actor for that part.

In Logan’s limo, he’s calmly speaking to Novakovich, who is panicking that Jack will come for him. Logan promises that Jack will never find him. However, Jack, suited up in full-body armor, arrives as Logan’s limo enters the Park Avenue tunnel. Jack shoots out the tire of a cab, bringing traffic to a halt, and boxing Logan in. Logan, terrified, realizes that Jack is coming for him. Logan’s Secret Service agents are unable to stop Jack, who slowly advances, while commuters flee in terror. Jack climbs onto the hood and begins firing at the bullet-proof windshield. The heavy artillery he got from Ricker allows him to crack the glass enough to make a small hole. He drops a canister of tear gas into the limo, forcing Logan to leave the vehicle. Jack takes Logan hostage, a gun to his head, threatening to kill him right here if he doesn’t start moving.

This scene was downright bad ass! Jack looked like Jason Vorhees with the mask and outfit and also how he was advancing with nobody stopping him. The best part of this scene was President Logan screaming “That’s Jack Bauer, stop him!” That has to be considered a top 24 quote.

As Chloe and Arlo figure out where Ricker’s been living, they hear that Jack’s kidnapped Logan. Chloe asks Arlo to patch into Pillar and Eden’s phone calls. As Pillar’s men track Jack, Pillar reminds them to shoot to kill.

Jack takes Logan to an empty utility room. Faced with a rageful Jack, a sweating, terrified Logan confesses everything. He protests his innocence in Renee’s death; he was brought in afterwards. Logan claims there is no evidence, no complete list of names of everyone involved in the Russian plot to kill Hassan and derail the peace process. Logan was bluffing, and it worked, but Jack screwed everything up. With a gun to his chest and five seconds to confess, Logan gives up Novakovich’s name. Jack then chokes Logan until he passes out, and flees a moment before Pillar and his men arrive and find Logan’s unconscious form.

This scene was also very good. Watching President Logan sweating bullets afraid of Jack Bauer was hilarious. It was a little weird seeing Jack punching a former President around like that.

Back at CTU, Chloe and Arlo listen as Pillar calls Eden and reports what he’s found. They need to get Jack before Pillar’s men do, but how? All agents are already in the field. Chloe says there’s one person they can send.

Finally, Chloe is going into the field. This should be cool. Remember some seasons back with Chloe and the machine gun?

Eden demands to know why Chloe has ordered Cole released into her custody. Chloe claims it’s because Pillar took away all her resources for security at the UN, and Cole’s the one who designed the operation. She needs his help.

Meredith is waiting at the diner when she gets a call on the diner’s phone from Klausner. The FBI arrived before he left and aren’t allowing anybody to leave. They say the evidence she has poses a national security risk. Meredith tells him it’s a cover-up, and Klausner tells her to protect that evidence. He says he told the FBI he hadn’t had any contact with you, but they could be tracing this call. She had better get out of there. As the FBI bang on Klausner’s office door, yelling that they told him no communication outside of their presence, he tells Meredith that he’ll try to call Ed Sampson at the Justice Department. She needs to lay low until then.

It’s not a complete shocker that Klausner and Meredith couldn’t meet up, but makes for a better plot.

Chloe orders Cole to find Ricker and get him to tell them where Jack is. Log sheets will show Cole accompanying Chloe to the UN, but she’s arranged a separate vehicle for him as well as some weaponry.

At Novakovich’s hotel, his aide Berkov informs him that President Suvarov’s plane has touched down. Novakovich has Ivan bring the car around. However, Ivan is waylaid in the garage by Jack, who roughs him up until he tells Jack the suite number where Novakovich is as well as how many guards there are. Ivan doesn’t have a keycard, but the guards do. Jack, a shotgun in hand, pistol whips Ivan unconscious then charges at the elevator security guards. Jack gets a keycard, but is stabbed in the side by one of the guards. Jack kills him with his own knife, then enters the elevator, bloody and wounded but still determined.

Watching Jack on a rampage is pretty amazing. The way he just got rid of those security guards was something else. I do like the fact that Jack got wounded because it definitely add some more juice to the plot.

Meredith calls Dalia from a hotel phone, but instead reaches Kayla, who doesn’t want to speak to her. Meredith says she has information about who is really responsible for her father’s death. She gives Kayla the hotel phone’s number, but as she hangs up, the FBI arrives to arrest her and seize the video evidence. Tim Woods informs President Taylor of the arrest, and Taylor says that the video is for her eyes only.

I really like this storyline because it seems so realistic. It also advances how dark of a turn President Taylor has taken.

Logan, wearing an oxygen mask and speaking with difficulty as he waits to be taken to the hospital, tells Pillar to warn Novakovich that Jack’s coming for him. However, it’s too late. The phone is answered by a wounded Berkov — the only survivor of Jack’s assault. Novakovich has been impaled. As Berkov begs for an ambulance, Pillar confirms that Novakovich didn’t say anything; Jack arrived with guns blazing and killed him.

Pillar informs Logan, who calls President Suvarov. It transpires that Suvarov was giving the orders, but Logan assures him that as far as Jack is concerned, the trail ended with Novakovich. Logan tells him not to worry about Jack; every law enforcement agency is looking for him. Besides, he’s been wounded. “There is nothing more dangerous than a wounded animal,” growls Suvarov. As Logan reassures Suvarov, Jack, standing in an alley, listens in on their conversation via a tiny fiber-optic micro-dot that Jack has hidden in Logan’s collar. Jack is recording the conversation. As Logan hangs up, Jack turns the device off and moves on. Jack leaves a large bloodstain on the wall where he was leaning.

The camera shot of seeing Novakovich impaled was awesome! That was definitely one of the best shots in the 24 franchise. Finishing the episode showing Jack listening to what President Logan was saying to President Suvarov was a good.

Overall Thoughts:

I thought this was a great episode and a good setup for the finale. This was very good in terms of developing that Jack was on a huge rampage and willing to kill at will. It sets the table for a finale where anything is possible with Jack. It seems like Jack will kill anybody at this point.

Please check back later for my 24 Season 8 & Series Finale Preview with predictions!!

The NYPD finds Dana’s body and takes Cole into custody. He identifies her. At the request of Jason Pillar, the NYPD prepares to send Cole to CTU for questioning. Meanwhile, in a cab, Jack watches the video he killed Dana for. It shows her talking with a Russian and planning Hassan’s death. Jack uploads the file to Jim Ricker and asks him to identify the man in the video.

This particular opening scene with them finding Dana’s body took extreme liberties with the time format of the show. How would they have found this place that quick? Cole was unconscious and couldn’t have followed them. Plus the scene showed lots of people already swarmed inside so how could the last episode have ended with nobody inside and then this episode pickup with many people inside and Jack nowhere to be found?

Pillar has CTU devote their full attention to capturing Jack. Chloe questions why Dana took Jack to the bank if there was no evidence for her to give to him. When Pillar dismisses her concerns, Chloe confides in Arlo that she thinks something’s not right. Arlo won’t listen.

Jack arrives at Ricker’s. Ricker says that Jack is all over the police scanners, and he insists Jack tell him what’s going on before he helps him. Jack explains about the cover-up, but Jim knows Jack’s not being completely straight with him. Jack finally admits the truth: he’s looking to make those responsible for Renee’s death pay. This is good enough for Jim, who tells Jack that the man in the video is Pavel Tokarev. He doesn’t know where Pavel is, just that he entered the U.S. a month ago with a diplomatic visa. Jack knows who can help him find Pavel: Meredith Reed, the journalist and former lover of President Hassan.

Jack calls Meredith, who just wrote a glowing profile of Hassan for her paper, and tells her he needs her help to expose the truth about Hassan’s murderers. Jack reminds Meredith that he helped clear her name yesterday, and he asks her to meet him at a coffee stand at Turner’s department store in twenty minutes.

I was glad to see the return of this journalist. I thought she was an interesting character. These 24 scenes where Jack tells someone to meet somewhere are always pretty solid so that’s what this will most likely be.

Back at CTU, Pillar interrogates Cole, and point out that they’ve both been soldiers, and a soldier’s duty is to obey the President. Cole just says that Pillar must be part of the cover-up. Eden calls Pillar and says they may have a line on Jack. As Cole is taken to holding, Eden tells Pillar that Arlo found a phone call to Meredith Reed featuring such keywords as Hassan, Russian government and Jack Bauer. Pillar has Arlo send the intercept to Eden’s station. Arlo says he can handle it himself, but Pillar insists that Eden be in control of the search.

Pillar plays the conversation between Jack and Meredith for Logan and Novakovich. He says he’s dispatched the Russian ops team to the department store while deploying NYPD away from there. It’s the perfect opportunity to get rid of both Jack and the evidence. Logan wants to personally stay on top of things and asks Novakovich for Pavel’s phone number.

Pillar sees Chloe staring up into his office and has Eden turn the windows opaque. Chloe voices her concerns to Arlo. The call must be from Jack. If it’s not from Jack, why is Pillar being so secretive? Pillar just made three calls she can’t trace, and the intercepted phone conversation was downloaded behind heavy firewalls. If the conversation was nothing, why hide it? If it’s Jack, why aren’t CTU and NYPD being deployed to capture him? Pillar and Eden must be part of the cover-up, and they’re planning on taking Jack out. She needs Arlo’s help, and he is finally persuaded.

Arlo is able to make a 90 second loop in the security camera feed so that Chloe can talk to Cole. She goes to his holding room and enters on Arlo’s mark. Cole doesn’t know where Jack is, and is reluctant to help. Jack killed Dana point blank, unarmed, so he’s not interested in the cover-up. Cole is interested in executing everyone involved in Renee’s death. There are no good guys here. Maybe it’s best, he says, if Jack and Pillar end up killing each other. Chloe says that Jack’s her friend, and she does care about exposing the cover-up. Cole finally says he thinks that Jack’s working with someone. Somebody must have provided Jack with all that weaponry and equipment he showed up with. Chloe goes to Arlo and asks him to pull up a list of all of Jack’s known associates.

This was about where I started liking Arlo. Up until this point Arlo has been almost useless and stupid.

Logan watches a news report about the imminent arrival in New York of Russian President Suvarov. He phones Pavel, who says his team is in place, but there’s no sign of Jack yet. He gets orders from Logan to kill Meredith as well as Jack.

President Taylor is continuing peace negotiations with Dalia Hassan, but she’s distracted and worried. An aide brings her a note: Logan wants to see her. Taylor meets with him in the next room and Logan says that Jack’s got the evidence. However, they know exactly where he is and he will be “reacquired” soon. Logan also asks Taylor to follow through on her end of their agreement to publicly acknowledge his role in the peace process. Taylor reluctantly promises to have her press secretary make the announcement in time for the one o’clock news.

At the department store, Pavel, hides in a vent with a rifle. His operatives roam the store’s floor in plainclothes. They see Meredith arrive. No Jack yet. Pillar and Eden watch from CTU via the store’s security cameras. They spot Jack, but Pavel and his crew can’t see him; he’s using taller shoppers as cover and keeping his head down. Pillar starts yelling at Pavel that he should have a clean line on Jack. Pavel finally finds Jack and gets him in his sights…but then feels the barrel of a gun on the back of his head. It’s Ricker, who forces Pavel to put his gun down. He then radios Jack an all-clear. Jack grabs Meredith. Pillar shouts for all units to take Jack out. Jack throws Meredith behind a clothes rack. Then he quickly takes out all the operatives who are firing at him as shoppers scream in terror. Jack grabs Meredith and runs for the escalator. Pillar realizes that Jack knew it was a trap. They’ve lost him. Jack and Meredith meet up with Ricker, who has Pavel hostage. They exit the building via a freight elevator.

This was a very good scene. I really thought that Meredith was going to die here so they got me. This was pretty fun to watch Jack shooting around clothes racks.

Pillar reports the bad news to Logan, and advises him to distance himself from President Taylor now while he still has complete deniability. Logan says it’s too late for that; the press release will link Logan to Taylor and the peace process. He’s unwilling to ask Taylor to retract it and is confident that Pavel won’t talk. He orders Pillar to use CTU’s resources to find Jack. Eden is horrified that Logan wants to move forward.

Pillar leaves to lead a CTU SWAT team in removing all trace of the Russians from the department store, and has Eden tell NYPD to put a two-block perimeter around the store. If they ask why, invoke national security and the White House.

Arlo has found the security camera footage from the department store, confirming to him and Chloe that Pillar was indeed trying to kill Jack. They can use the footage to try to identify Jack’s associate.

Jack and Ricker take Pavel and Meredith to an empty building. As Pavel’s pockets are searched, Meredith, shaking, realizes that Jack used her and she could have been killed. She asks about the evidence and he gives her a tablet; the video is on there. Pavel is tied up. Meredith protests, so Jack has Ricker take her into the next room. With Pavel secured, Jack inspects his sniper rifle. It’s the same model as the one that killed Renee. He asks Pavel point blank if he was the one who murdered Renee. “Go to hell,” Pavel says calmly. “You first,” Jack replies.

As Meredith watches the video, Jack begins to torture Pavel with a pair of pliers. Jack knows that Pavel could have killed Renee cleanly, but instead he shot her so she’d bleed out slowly and die in agony. He’ll do the same to Pavel unless he talks. Pavel screams that he killed Renee himself. Jack begins to beat Pavel savagely. Meredith hears the screams and tells Ricker to stop him. She’s got enough to go on with the video. Jack doesn’t need to do this. Ricker tells her she’s not going anywhere.

As Pillar shows the NYPD a photo of Jack and tells them to shoot on sight, Jack continues to torture Pavel. First he uses a knife, then a blowtorch. Yet Pavel won’t say who gave the order. Jack turns away for a moment, frustrated. He finds Pavel’s phone and realizes that the SIM card is missing. Pavel must have swallowed it. Jack takes a knife and cuts a hole in Pavel’s belly to retrieve the card. As Pavel dies, Jack cleans the blood off the card, puts it in the phone, and hits redial. His eyes widen as he hears the voice mail message: “You have reached the office of President Charles Logan.”

This scene with Jack torturing Pavel was shocking. I was surprised they even allowed this on T.V. This scene was a clear indication that Jack was on a rampage. I couldn’t believe when Jack pulled the SIM card out of Pavel’s stomach. I will say that Jack should realized to check Pavel’s phone earlier, but I guess it’s understandable that revenge and violence would be more of a priority for Jack. The end of the episode with Jack reaching Logan’s voicemail was pretty solid.

Overall Thoughts:

This was a pretty good episode. The ending of this episode was nothing short of amazing. Even though we knew Jack would survive the department store I admit that I thought Meredith would die. The whole shootout with Jack and the clothes racks made the episode better also. My only issue was the first scene with the time frame as I mentioned above.

Dalia Hassan addresses the world, thanking a visibly discomfited President Taylor for her integrity and moral courage. As Logan watches on TV, Pillar reports that Dana isn’t cooperating, and that Blesdoe wanted confirmation on how to deal with Dana afterwards. Logan confirms that they’re all committed to the same outcome, “not that I have any idea what you’re talking about, do you understand?”

As Dana is waterboarded, Jack and Cole arrive outside the location where she’s being held. Jack plans to cut a deal with Dana in exchange for the evidence. Chloe calls Cole, who continues the subterfuge as Chloe says she’s never seen Jack like this before. Chloe asks Cole to make sure the psych officer is the first person Jack sees when Cole brings him in.

Jack and Cole go through the roof to get into the building, taking out the first team they encounter then using a stolen comm unit to lure the rest of security onto the roof. Jack breaks into the command station and gets Dana’s location at gunpoint. He and Cole burst into the room where Dana is being tortured. Blesdoe grabs Dana and holds a gun to her head. He thinks Jack won’t shoot; it’s too risky… but Jack shoots him right in the forehead, shocking Cole. Using a stun grenade as cover, Jack and Cole make their escape with Dana.

As easy as it appeared I thought the sequence of getting Dana wasn’t bad. Cole doing distractions and Jack doing the dirty made for good entertainment.

Arlo informs Chloe that Agent Greer called and reported that Jack escaped and took Cole hostage. Chloe puts out an APB for Jack and informs the White House. Meanwhile, Jack demands from Dana the video file that implicates the Russian officials responsible for Renee’s death. He can’t offer her immunity, but he can offer to let her go. Dana doesn’t believe him, so Jack pulls over and holds Dana at gunpoint, giving her three seconds to say the location of the file. Dana gives in; it’s in a safe deposit box in her name. Dana turns to Cole and tells him that Jack is after revenge, not justice. She thinks he will kill everybody on that list, one by one, starting with her. Jack tells an increasingly torn Cole that Dana is just trying to get into his head. Jack only wanted Dana to think he’d pull the trigger. Cole continues to go along with Jack, but a seed of doubt has been planted.

This scene with Jack pointing the gun at Dana was pretty good. The only thing I didn’t get was how Cole started to believe Dana after the bad looks and betrayal from earlier.

This was a decent sequence of events. It was very surprising to see President Taylor place this much faith in President Logan for her decision making.

Jack, Cole and Dana arrive at the bank. As Jack stands sentry in the lobby, Cole takes Dana into the bank. Dana desperately tries again to convince Cole that Jack’s out for revenge, not justice, and would have pulled the trigger.

Pillar arrives at CTU along with his aide, Eden. Chloe questions why he’s there. He says he’s under Presidential orders, and it’s time to stop treating Jack with kid gloves. As he takes command of the search for Jack, he countermands Chloe’s order to use non-lethal force. Jack is armed and dangerous. The level of force to use against him is now unrestricted.

This decision to put Pillar in control on the writers part to me seemed like they just wanted Chloe to help Jack more rather than play the more anti-Jack role she was playing earlier to catch him.

At the bank, Brian – a high school friend of Cole’s – leaves Dana and Cole in a viewing room as he goes to get the safe deposit box. Dana tries to play on Cole’s emotions again, and says she was going to use the video file as leverage to force the Russians off so they could be together. Brian brings the box and leaves again. Cole orders Dana away from it. He opens the box himself, to find a memory card… and a silenced gun. Cole shakes his head ruefully and takes the gun, but concealed under the gun is a device with a flash-bang charge, activated by the moving of the gun. There is a searing white light and a pop of sound. Dana uses the sudden distraction to knock Cole out with a chair and grab the gun. Brian hears the noise and rushes in. Dana shoots him dead.

Dana secretly puts the video card in her back pocket, then picks up the phone and calls 911. In a breathless, scared tone, she says there’s a man at the front door that she’s seen on the news, and she thinks he has a gun. “Oh my god, he’s looking in my direction,” she says, then hangs up. Dana regards the unconscious Cole, strokes his cheek tenderly, and exits the room.

Even though I figured Dana would escape I did like this scene anyway. I wasn’t quite sure if Cole died or not. I thought the fake phone call by Dana to 911 was hilarious with the fake voice. Although predictable, this was still a fun scene to watch.

At CTU, Pillar gets confirmation of Jack’s location at the bank. The NYPD is dispatched to arrest him. Pillar calls Pavel and tells him that the NYPD will get there first; he’ll have to take Jack out in custody. However, when the police arrive, Jack manages to escape, first taking one cop at gunpoint, then disarming his partner. With a sincere whisper of “Sorry,” Jack shoots the officer in the foot, then pushes the first cop away and doing likewise. He takes their ammo.

As Jack runs after Dana, he shouts at passerby to call an ambulance; there are two policemen down. He pursues Dana through the streets to a construction site. Jack tricks her into using her last bullets by throwing his jacket around the corner where she’s hiding. He corners her and asks if she killed Cole. “I could never do that,” she breathes. Jack demands the evidence. Dana says they can still make a deal, but Jack isn’t having it. He has her take the video card out and put it slowly on the floor. He then walks right up to her, his gun still trained on her. “Is there anything I can do?” Dana asks. “Nothing,” says Jack, his face creased with pain and sorrow. And then, he shoots Dana, point blank. As she goes down, he empties more bullets into her with the force of revenge. Jack takes the video card, his eyes hard, cold and dead.

Watching Dana run through the streets with a gun in plain sight with no pedestrian reaction was a little weird. I was at least expecting someone to shout “She has a gun!” or something of that nature, but nope.

The death of Dana was definitely something most 24 fans were hoping for, but I think most fans didn’t think she would survive anyway. The way Jack just killed her like that was pretty amazing. Also there were some good camera shots in that sequence.

Overall Thoughts:

Most 24 fans might say this was a great episode because of Jack killing Dana, but I thought this was just an ok episode. It was entertaining, but the predictability of Dana escaping was still there. The last scene with Jack killing Dana was definitely a 24 moment, but in my opinion it pales in comparison to many other Jack “bad guy” killings.

Even with CTU, the Air Force and NYPD in pursuit of him, Jack manages to get away in the stolen helicopter. He lands at a helipad on the Cooper Building, then escapes on foot. Chloe realizes that Jack is going to try to find Dana Walsh, and she asks Cole to lead the search team.

It was a fun scene to watch with Jack flying a helicopter and being chased at the same time.

Ethan Kanin, believing that the truth will come out one way or another, advises the President to save her administration by coming clean about the Russians’ involvement, even if it means the end of the peace accord. Reluctantly, she asks him to prepare a statement about a U.S. withdrawal from the talks.

Logan presents the President with an alternative to granting Dana immunity, which would make her confession part of the public record: keep the truth from ever coming out by classifying Dana as an enemy combatant. Then hire a private security firm he has standing by to incarcerate her in a private facility and torture her until she gives up the information, off the public record.

President Taylor lets Chloe know that a Mark Blesdoe from a private security firm is coming to take Dana to a safe house. She asks Logan to have his men use non-coercive interrogation on Dana.

The three scenes above were pretty telling about how desperate President Taylor was for this peace deal. When they said “private security firm” I immediately thought they were gonna kill Dana Walsh.

Jack buys several disposable cell phones. He calls Chloe and tells her the President is lying, and asks for her help in locating Dana. Chloe hesitates, but ultimately tells Jack that Dana’s being transferred. Jack wants the address, then hangs up and throws away the phone. Using another phone, he calls ex-military friend Jim Ricker who owes him a favor. He’ll be at Ricker’s place in ten minutes, and he needs weapons and other equipment.

This was funny how Jack went in and bought a bunch of disposable phones. Smart move on Jack’s part though.

Bledsoe arrives at CTU. Logan’s aide, Pillar, tells Bledsoe to hand Dana back to CTU once they’ve extracted the information. However, Bledsoe says this is a cleanup mission; it’d be better if they killed Dana and made it look like it happened while she tried to escape. Pillar is uncomfortable with that option, but says he will discuss it with “the client.”

Bledsoe meets up with Chloe, who asks where Dana will be held. When Bledsoe won’t disclose the location, Chloe claims she needs to see the Presidential Order before she can turn Dana over. While she has Bledsoe’s PDA, she surreptitiously uses a mini-USB drive to copy its contents.

As Dana is handed over to Bledsoe, she begs Chloe not to let them do this because they’ll kill her. Chloe remains silent as Dana is dragged away. She then examines the data on the USB drive and gets the address where Dana is being transferred to. She notifies Cole that Jack called and she very nearly helped him. However, she’s under a Presidential Order, and furthermore, she doesn’t think that Jack is thinking clearly. She tells Cole to bring Jack in before he gets himself killed.

It was pretty slick to see Chloe copying the info on from the PDA to a USB that fast. It was also pretty interesting to see Chloe trying to take the middle ground of obeying orders and protecting Jack at the same time.

Jack arrives at Ricker’s place, which is festooned with security cameras. Ricker has the promised equipment: weapons, ammo, communication gear, binoculars and more. Ricker thinks they’re now even, but Jack says he’ll let him know when they’re even. Jack tells him to stay put as he might need him again.

Jack calls Chloe, who implores him to turn himself in. Jack asks if she’s going to give him the address or not. Chloe hesitates…then gives Jack a false address ten minutes away. At the address in question, Cole is briefing a team of CTU agents on Jack’s capture. He hopes to grab Jack by surprise before he has the chance to fight back. Chloe asks Cole to use non-lethal force, but Cole says he can’t tell his men not to defend themselves.

It was a little weird to see this guy Ricker with all this equipment. Like this popped right out of nowhere! Someone to help Jack out of nowhere, yippee! I do like Michael Madsen, but what the fuck is that on the side of his neck! I do think this Ricker character is questionable writing.

Kanin is so horrified and troubled by President Taylor’s decision to go along with Logan’s plan that he plans to submit his resignation. He will say it’s for health reasons; he’s here against doctor’s orders anyway. Taylor implores him not to abandon her, but he says he needs to follow his conscience. “You’ve got Charles Logan now. There’s only room for one of us.”

Like I mentioned in my last review, if Kanin thought Logan was this untrustworthy then why suggest him in the first place? That’s why the quote “There’s only room for one of us.” It makes no sense.

At the UN, Dalia and Jamot go over her speech. Her hand is shaking. She is worried that she will be accused of grabbing for power and exploiting her husband’s death. Kayla enters, and suggests she remember what her father always said: “The best way to dispel public misperception is to address it directly.” Kayla apologies for being selfish earlier, but now she is here for her mother.

This was another very good scene with Dalia and Kayla. No complaints from me.

Jack arrives at the trap set by Chloe and Cole. He calls Chloe to notify her that he has arrived, and Chloe tips off Cole. Hiding behind a bank of parked trucks, Jack slings a large automatic rifle over his shoulder and stashes the rest of the equipment under a truck. He enters the building and gets the drop on one of the CTU agents, holding him at gunpoint as Cole and the other agents rush in. They all surrender their weapons to Jack.

Cole wonders how Jack figured out that it was a trap. “I know Chloe,” he says. He has Cole report to Chloe that a caught Jack is being brought in. “I know I should feel relieved,” says Chloe, “But I just feel worse.” Cole asks what Jack is planning to do, but Jack angrily cuts him off, shouting to just do as he says.

Jack sits down with Cole in the next room and tells him he only risked coming here because he knew Chloe would send him. He wants Cole’s help to gain access to Dana. Cole wonders how Jack can be sure that the President is lying. Jack says she told him to his face. Jack notes that Cole’s hands aren’t clean – he aided Dana, the Russians got the nuclear materials because of that, and they killed Hassan as well as four of his men. This is Cole’s chance to make the people responsible accountable. Jack gives Cole a gun. “It’s your call.” Cole hesitates then takes the gun, confessing that Dana is in a safe house a few miles away. They leave, pretending for the benefit of the bound agents that Jack is taking Cole hostage.

I have nothing to say about this sequence except that it was no surprise at all that Jack thwarted Chloe’s plan. Suspense fail on this one by the writers.

A terrified Dana is led by Bledsoe and his men into a warehouse full of various implements of torture. When Dana claims she has no evidence to give them, Bledsoe orders her strapped down.

At the UN, Kanin confronts Logan, accusing him of maneuvering the President into a corner. There’s too much blood on this treaty. Logan says that every treaty ever signed had blood on it, but Kanin says not like this. Kanin comments that Taylor isn’t like Logan, but Logan says she’s finally got some teeth. Kanin, outraged, tells Logan that if Taylor suffers, he’ll come after him. Logan is unfazed by the threat.

This was a nice little confrontation between Kanin and President Logan.

The press conference begins. President Taylor, in introducing Dalia as the new IRK head, conveys that sometimes the pursuit of peace comes with a stark price. As she speaks of Hassan’s assassination, we see Dana being strapped down and waterboarded. As Taylor says that peace must prevail, no matter what the cost, she spies Kanin watching her speech from the back of the room. Kanin, saddened, turns away and leaves. The President is momentarily thrown, but continues her speech. As she brings Dalia to the podium, Novakovich, the Russian emissary, watches disapprovingly while the President tries to mask her troubled expression.

This was certainly new ground for 24 with the waterboarding. I’m surprised they put it in there even with all the torture criticism the show has gotten. It was weird seeing it implemented on a TV show.

Overall Thoughts:

This episode was nothing special. Other than the opening scene with Jack in the helicopter and the end with waterboarding there was nothing really that memorable. The scene with Kayla and Dalia was top notch, but other than that nothing huge. The scenes of trying to capture Jack with Chloe’s special plan were nothing exciting.

Grieving and dazed, Jack becomes further wounded when he realizes that he cannot answer the nurse’s questions about how to contact Renee’s next of kin. As Renee’s body is taken away, the nurse gives Jack some clean clothes to replace the blood-stained ones he’s wearing. Jack slowly staggers back into the hospital corridor and sits, putting his head in his hands. It’s a rare moment to himself, sagging under the weight of what’s happened. But the moment is soon cut short, as his phone rings. It’s Chloe. An enraged Jack demands to find out who shot Renee, promising her he won’t compromise their investigation. All Chloe knows is that it is somebody from Red Square, so it must be Bazheav’s mob. Bazheav is being arraigned right now in the Federal Court downtown.

This is was a very good opening scene. It was a little odd to see a nurse handing Jack clothes.

Ethan Kanin arrives at the UN in defiance of his doctor’s orders for bed rest. He figured he would have to convince President Taylor to speak with Logan, and he is surprised to find that she has already done so. Yet Ethan is horrified to find that the President has no idea what leverage Logan has over the Russians.

This scene was a little weird only because Ethan Kanin had suggested in the first place that President Taylor speak with President Logan.

Meanwhile, Logan meets with Novakovich and says that they both know that Hassan’s opposition had outside help from the Russian government, chiefly Novakovich himself. Logan is heading back to the UN to meet with President Taylor. Either Logan can tell her that Russia is back at the table for the peace conference, or he can tell her the truth about Russia’s involvement with Hassan’s assassination.

I liked the setting on this scene, but I was disappointed that the plan wasn’t something else other than Logan having knowledge of Russian involvement. I was hoping for something more different and complex.

Jack arrives at the courthouse just in time to see Bazhaev denied bail. Jack gets five minutes to talk to Bazhaev and threatens to kill his family if he doesn’t tell him who shot Renee. Bazhaev knows that they will kill his family either way. Jack gives his word to get them witness protection if Bazhaev cooperates. Bazhaev informs him that Red Square no longer exists. The order came from Moscow. He doesn’t know who exactly gave the order. Everything was arranged by their plant at CTU — Dana Walsh.

Something about Jack showing up at a courthouse to speak with a suspect like this was just a little too unrealistic. I think this scene was a writing fail.

President Taylor lets Logan know that Novakovich gave her notice that Russia was coming back to the table to sign the peace treaty. She credits Logan with the success. Ethan Kanin asks what Logan said to Novakovich, but Logan refuses to say, per his deal with Taylor.

Jack calls Chloe to arrange the witness protection for Bazhaev’s family. He also wants to talk to Dana because she is Moscow’s spy. Chloe worries what Jack might do, so she asks Cole to be there when Jack questions Dana.

Jack arrives at CTU. Chloe apologizes for the need to keep the cameras on. Jack says if he was going to kill Dana then she’d already be dead. As Chloe and Cole watch from the monitor, Jack asks Dana about Renee’s murder. Dana refuses to talk. Jack roughs her up, but before it goes so far that Cole needs to intervene, Dana agrees to give them names all the way to the top. She can also provide proof, but she first demands her immunity deal signed by the President reinstated. She will be dead without it. Dana also wants witness protection, relocation abroad, and enough money to live in comfort. Jack growls that if she lies to him, he will find her.

This Jack interrogation scene with Dana was crazy! Does smacking around Dana count as torture? I do think it’s a bit unrealistic Jack is still dealing with Dana and giving her the benefit of the doubt after Hassan died.

Logan’s aide, Pillar, gets a call from a contact at the Justice Department telling him that Bazhaev talked to Jack. They can’t let Jack interrogate Dana, especially since he seems to have a personal stake. Pillar says that Logan may need to ask the President to intervene. Logan is aghast. He cannot tell the President the truth, but he has no choice. “Bauer torpedoed my Presidency,” Logan says. “Tried to ruin me. Almost did. There is no way I’m going to let that happen again.”

At the UN, Taylor tells Dalia that the delegates have voted unanimously to accept her as the IRK’s representative. Dalia says her government will vote within the hour to confirm her appointment as interim President.

Logan arrives at the UN to speak with President Taylor and Ethan. He tells them that Jack is out of control and needs to be stopped. When pressed, he reveals what he has known all along about the Russian involvement with Hassan’s assassination and the nuclear threat. The President and Ethan are outraged. Taylor asks if he could have prevented anything that happened today, but Logan says the information only came to him recently via a source he won’t reveal. The source has no proof and they could plausibly deny even knowing him. Logan is sure that if Jack brings the Russian involvement into the open, the peace process will be dead. Ethan Kanin says that it doesn’t matter because they can broker a better peace later, with honest partners. Logan says it’s now or never.

This scene with President Taylor and President Logan discussing the peace deal was marvelous. This was one of the best scenes of the season. The acting of President Logan was amazing, and also showed the vulnerability of President Taylor.

Jack calls the President about Dana’s immunity agreement. Taylor says she’ll have to call him back. Ethan tells her that there’s no choice here, Yet Taylor says there is a choice, and only she can make it. She is going to CTU to talk to Jack.

Chloe tells Jack that CTU can take it from here. He doesn’t need to do this to himself. Jack says that he needs to see this through. The President arrives and makes a speech to the staff, thanking them for their hard work and exhorting them to keep it up. Then she meets privately with Jack. Taylor asks him to stand down, apologizing for even asking him to make such a hard choice. She won’t be giving Dana immunity. Jack wants justice, but the President wants the peace process to be protected. Jack doesn’t think they can trust the Russians, and asks if Dalia knows she’s signing a treaty with the people responsible for her husband’s murder. “That’s enough,” snaps the President. The peace treaty is for the greater good and her decision is final. Jack will be taken to McGuire Air Force Base to be debriefed. “You’re locking me down,” breathes Jack, pained and saddened.

This scene with Jack and President Taylor was very good. It looked like Jack wanted to punch her in the face the whole time. Of course everyone watching this scene knew Jack was right.

Jack is escorted out of CTU by a pair of Secret Service agents. As Chloe watches him go, the President asks Chloe to have Dana locked down. Nobody will have access to her without President Taylor’s express permission. Taylor says that Dana won’t be getting immunity because she is a sociopath who will say anything. The President doesn’t want the peace process derailed by unfounded allegations. There’s going to be a press conference in two hours to present Dalia Hassan as the new leader of the IRK, and Taylor asks Chloe to make sure that the security there is airtight. Taylor notes that Tim Woods always spoke highly of Chloe, and he insisted she be the one to take over from Hastings at CTU. President Taylor says that it was a pleasure to finally meet her, and Chloe tersely acknowledges with a “Thank you.” The President hesitates for an awkward moment, but when it becomes clear that Chloe isn’t going to say anything further, she takes her leave.

Chloe orders Cole to the UN to head up the security there. Meanwhile, at CTU’s helipad, Jack is escorted by Agent Winnick, who respects Jack and is sorry that they had to meet under these circumstances. As they approach the helicopter, Jack grabs Winnick’s gun and tells him to order his men to drop their weapons. Chloe, watching on a security monitor, orders all security to the helipad. Yet it’s too late. Jack has stolen the helicopter and heads west over Manhattan towards the UN. Chloe has Winnick contact the FAA and the Air Force. They are to intercept the helicopter and force it down.

The ending of this episode was a little weird. It wasn’t a complete shocker to see Jack overpower the guards and take control of the helicopter. When President Taylor said Jack would be locked down I think every 24 watcher laughed like that was really gonna happen.

Overall Thoughts:

I thought this was alright episode. The opening scene with Jack and Renee’s body was good, but the Logan leverage with the Russians was a little disappointing. A couple solid scenes in this episode, but the end of the episode seemed a little off.